Understanding the Battle for the Soul of the Internet in India
About the author: Benjamin Polsky is a master’s student with FSI’s Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy program. He is spending his summer working at Carnegie India in New Delhi as a Visiting Graduate Research Analyst with funding from FSI.
India currently has the world’s strongest net neutrality mandate. Following a drawn-out public debate, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) ruled to ban differential pricing for internet services in 2016. During my time at Carnegie India, I met with the various stakeholders and conducted research to better understand the inputs to that historic decision and its impact on the web as its experienced by over a billion people.
The public campaign to establish network neutrality was spearheaded by a group of activists, journalists and lawyers called the Save the Internet (STI) coalition. Through interviews and conversations with some of the group’s founders, I came to understand what motivated the group’s persistent activity and the strategy behind their multi-year campaign. Commenting on the reason for the campaign, the group’s founder, Nikhil Pahwa, noted that they were in a “battle for internet freedom.”
At the regulatory authority, I met with some of the advisers and policy-makers involved in the decision. One TRAI adviser told me that maintaining network neutrality was akin to outlawing “economic slavery.” By banning zero-rating by internet service providers, TRAI prevented a market distortion that would have “ripple effects” throughout the entire Indian economy.
Carnegie India provided me the with the resources and support to delve deeply into my own research projects. Having the ability to run ideas by other researchers and solicit comments on my work was invaluable. I can only hope that I will have the opportunity to continue to pursue research projects surrounded by this smart and supportive group of people going forward.
